
Last weekend I went for a walk on a nearby paved trail. When I arrived at the start of the trail, I was surprised to see that a boy had set up a table and was selling both lemonade and fresh eggs. His mother sat on a nearby bench.
He’d set up his stand across the street from the parking lot, so any interested cyclists could put their bikes away before indulging in a cool drink. And anyone who wanted fresh eggs wouldn’t have far to carry them.
I smiled at him, but I don’t carry small bills or loose change when I walk, so I passed on by.
About ten minutes into my walk, I saw a man in his early thirties carrying a small exit the backyard of a house. He set the table down by the side of the trail.
Hmm…was this the sign of another budding entrepreneur?
Yep, it sure was. By the time I reached my turnaround point and had returned to that spot, a young girl sat at the table with her mother looking on from a few feet away. She sold only lemonade.
Both children had their lemonade in glass dispensers with feet on the bottom and spigots, like something you might see in the lobby of a hotel. A lot fancier than the plastic or glass pitchers I remember from my neighborhood.
I didn’t think the girl was in a particularly beneficial spot, as there wasn’t even a bench nearby for cyclists to lean their bikes against. Yet when I approached, I saw a cyclist standing by his bike across the path from the lemonade stand. He and his small daughter, who sat in the child seat on the back of his bike, were both drinking lemonade.
When I returned to the start of the trail, I witnessed an older gentleman stopping and getting off his bike in order to engage in some commerce. He delighted the boy by making a big deal of searching his bike pack for money and waving a dollar triumphantly when he’d located it.
In all the years that I’ve been walking that trail, I’ve never seen a lemonade stand. To see two on one day, and not a particularly hot day, intrigued me.
Long live the lemonade stand!